Eric Edelman, a former official in the George W. Bush administration, shredded President Donald Trump on Tuesday for taking a wrecking ball to American diplomacy.
In an interview with the New York Times, Edelman said that Trump takes a purely transactional approach to foreign policy that serves his own personal interests instead of the interests of the United States.
“Trump is replacing formal relations among nations in several cases with family-to-family relationship, or crony-to-crony relationships,” said Edelman, who served as the American ambassador to Turkey during the Bush administration. “Certainly, [Turkish President Recep Tayyip] Erdogan would prefer that kind of relationship as he runs a crony capitalist regime of his own, but it ought to be a matter of concern to all Americans.”
The Times report goes on to document how this has played out in the president’s diplomacy, as Trump son-in-law Jared Kushner has been in frequent contact with Erdogan son-in-law Berat Albayrak in a form of “backdoor diplomacy” aimed at fostering cooperation between the two countries.
The concern, however, is that no one knows whether Trump’s unconventional diplomacy with Turkey overlaps with his personal financial interests.
Specifically, the Times reports that “Trump’s ties to Turkey… go back more than a decade” and include the opening of the Trump Towers Istanbul skyscrapers back in 2012.
Enjoy this piece?
… then let us make a small request. Like you, we here at Raw Story believe in the power of progressive journalism. Raw Story readers power David Cay Johnston’s DCReport, which we've expanded to keep watch in Washington. We’ve exposed billionaire tax evasion and uncovered White House efforts to poison our water. We’ve revealed financial scams that prey on veterans, and legal efforts to harm workers exploited by abusive bosses. And unlike other news outlets, we’ve decided to make our original content free. But we need your support to do what we do.
Raw Story is independent. You won’t find mainstream media bias here. Unhinged from billionaires and corporate overlords, we fight to ensure no one is forgotten.
We need your support to deepen our investigative reporting. Every reader contribution, whatever the amount, makes a tremendous difference. Invest with us in the future. Make a one-time contribution to Raw Story Investigates, or click here to become a subscriber. Thank you. Click to donate by check.
Enjoy this piece?
… then let us make a small request. Like you, we here at Raw Story believe in the power of progressive journalism — and we’re investing in investigative reporting as other publications give it the ax. Raw Story readers power David Cay Johnston’s DCReport, which we've expanded to keep watch in Washington. We’ve exposed billionaire tax evasion and uncovered White House efforts to poison our water. We’ve revealed financial scams that prey on veterans, and efforts to harm workers exploited by abusive bosses. We need your support to do what we do.
Raw Story is independent. You won’t find mainstream media bias here. Unhinged from corporate overlords, we fight to ensure no one is forgotten.
We need your support to keep producing quality journalism and deepen our investigative reporting. Every reader contribution, whatever the amount, makes a tremendous difference. Invest with us in the future. Make a one-time contribution to Raw Story Investigates, or click here to become a subscriber. Thank you.
Report typos and corrections to:
[email protected].